Red Sand City.
Ren Tiange and the Silver-Eyed Great Sage had just completed a mercenary mission and walked out of the Mercenary Guild.
Although the mission had been completed almost perfectly—the herbs Ren Tiange's group had gathered were two grades higher than the original target—the stingy merchant offered no additional reward. With nothing more than, "All compensation will be paid according to the contract," he dismissed Ren Tiange.
"This mission took eight days, yet we only earned three Heaven Crystals." Ren Tiange felt his labor had been sold too cheaply. Being a mercenary truly wasn't easy.
"If you knew that those few herbs exceeding the target grade were worth at least five hundred Heaven Crystals, you would feel even more depressed." The Silver-Eyed Great Sage smiled faintly. Ignoring Ren Tiange, who had stopped in his tracks, he continued onward with effortless composure.
"Why?" Ren Tiange hurried after him, crying out repeatedly, "You knew they were worth that much, so why didn't you tell me? Five hundred Heaven Crystals! We could have simply broken the contract! Even if the mission failed, we would only have had to compensate them one Heaven Crystal for lost time. We could absolutely afford that! My heavens, that was five hundred Heaven Crystals! Why did we just hand them over to that stingy fat man?"
"Because I am observing the order of Human Valley." The Silver-Eyed Great Sage's expression remained calm.
"I understand what you mean. If the employer followed the rules and repaid kindness with gratitude, then of course we should do that. But that stingy fat man was the first to break the rules! There are clearly regulations saying that if a mission is completed beyond expectations, the employer must give a reasonable additional bonus... but that fat man never did! He hired us